Abstract

Abstract: This paper describes use of an online Student Response System (SRS) in a pre‑qualification course for engineering studies in Norway. The SRS in use, where students answer quizzes using handheld mobile devices like Smartphones, PADs, iPods etc., has been developed at Sør‑Trøndelag University College. The development of the SRS was co‑funded by the Lifelong Learning Program KA3‑ICT in 2009‑2010. SRS has been designed to help teachers effortlessly i) break the monotony of a lecture and allow the students to actively take part in the lecture, ii) increase teacher‑student interaction, and iii) give teacher and students immediate anonymous feedback on learning outcome. The response system was used in mathematics in two groups with different lecturers during two semesters in 2009‑2010. The pedagogical methods in use will be referred to as “Peer Instruction” and “Classic”. In each method the students will answer a multiple choice quiz using their mobile devices. In both cases the result of the quiz will immediately appear as a histogram on a screen in the classroom. The closing parts will also be identical. The lecturer then highlights the correct option in the histogram and explains why this option actually is the correct one. In the Peer Instruction method there will be an additional element. The first poll will be followed by a discussion in student groups, where the students are urged to defend their choice and convince their fellow students that their chosen option is the correct one. The discussion is then followed by a new individual voting session before the final results are shown and the closing part takes place. The paper will compare this method with the peer instruction method as described in existing literature. The learning outcome will be discussed according to interviews with students and the lecturers’ experiences from the classroom. In addition we will analyze students’ grades and test results in mathematics with respect to their expected level, based on previous achievements. We will present results showing that when students are arguing their point of view, they will have a stronger tendency to convince their fellow students when they themselves already have found the correct option in the quiz. Finally we will suggest pedagogical improvements for future use of response systems in mathematics. Input from lecturers and from students has already been used in the process of developing a new version of SRS, finished in January 2013.

Abstract

Abstract: Retrieving resources in an appropriate manner has a promising role in increasing the performance of educational support systems. A variety of works have been done to organize materials for educational purposes using tagging techniques. Despite the effectiveness of these techniques within certain domains, organizing resources in a way being adequately reusable for support purposes is still in the offing. In this paper a semantic approach is proposed to increase performance of retrieving educational materials based on using frames. Here, frames are used to represent the very knowledge necessary for realizing the similarity/ relevance between query and supportive materials. Owing to the complexity in semantic handling of the entire text, the suggested frame‑based approach is applied only to the titles or sub‑titles, or in general the main headings, in the material. To make these frames comprehensive, we have made use of two attributes called “Major Characteristics” and “Basic Constituents”, which are responsible respectively for “the goal behind a conceptual entity (Why/ for What a conceptual entity is being used)” and “the basic elements supporting a conceptual entity (How / in What way a conceptual entity is realized)”. Conceptual entities here stand for the entire ideas belonging to headings (titles or subtitles) in a material. These attributes seem to have enough potential for representing the knowledge of titles and sub‑titles in a way reflecting the content of the paragraphs in a reasonable way. To evaluate the capability of the proposed approach, retrieving materials within the domain of Multi‑Agent Systems (a subject of high concern in Artificial Intelligence) was picked out as the benchmark problem. According to this benchmark, materials are retrieved based on the user’s desire. Taking this point into account, we made a dataset for the subject of Multi‑Agent Systems as an educational resource in academia, within which a number of users’ desires from different groups were considered as possible queries, and the corresponding materials were then retrieved using the proposed approach. Computer experiments show acceptable precision and recall values for these queries with a quite good balance between them which is represented in terms of F‑measure. . The findings lead us to the fact that "Major Characteristics" and "Basic Constituents" have the ability to increase the status of re‑usability for the stored materials. Moreover, the fact that materials can be reused efficiently, leads us to the point that our proposed representation scheme can be useful for educational support issues in the situations where user’s desire is complex enough to the extent that several materials ought to be merged together to yield the requested material.

Abstract

Abstract: This paper reports the findings of a project "Digital Futures in Teacher Education" (DeFT) undertaken as part of the third phase of the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) UK Open Educational Resources (OER) programme. It builds on previous work (Gruszczynska and Pountney, 2012, 2013) that has addressed attempts to embed OER practice within the teacher education sector, and which has informed practice in teaching and learning in the school system involving digital literacy (Burnett and Merchant, 2011; Davies and Merchant, 2009). A framework for digital literacy is outlined, drawing heavily on socio‑cultural models of digital practice (Merchant, 2011), that has the potential to re‑imagine teachers and teaching, as well as learners and learning and which, at the same time, address the 'why' as well as the 'how' of digital literacy. This framework takes into account current debates (primarily within the UK but of relevance to European perspectives) focusing on issues of ICT, digital literacy and media literacy in the curriculum, which reflect a tension between digital literacy as a set of skills and competencies on the one hand and understandings that arise from socio‑cultural and communicative practices on the other. Current understandings of digital literacy in the context of teacher education and OERs are explored and the potential for digital literac(ies) for openness is examined. This draws on data collected in the context of the DeFT project and includes meanings and perspectives on digital literacies as expressed by project participants. The effectiveness of a methodology that prizes reflexivity and participation is examined including a range of voices, including children's voices, in the meaning‑making process and recommendations on the basis of the findings are made. In terms of a digital future for teacher education the paper highlights the need for practices, learning packages and tools to continue to evolve, in close cooperation with their potential users, and linked directly to classroom and schools as the site of this production.

Abstract

Abstract: This paper reports the findings of a project "Digital Futures in Teacher Education" (DeFT) undertaken as part of the third phase of the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) UK Open Educational Resources (OER) programme. It builds on previous work (Gruszczynska and Pountney, 2012, 2013) that has addressed attempts to embed OER practice within the teacher education sector, and which has informed practice in teaching and learning in the school system involving digital literacy (Burnett and Merchant, 2011; Davies and Merchant, 2009). A framework for digital literacy is outlined, drawing heavily on socio‑cultural models of digital practice (Merchant, 2011), that has the potential to re‑imagine teachers and teaching, as well as learners and learning and which, at the same time, address the 'why' as well as the 'how' of digital literacy. This framework takes into account current debates (primarily within the UK but of relevance to European perspectives) focusing on issues of ICT, digital literacy and media literacy in the curriculum, which reflect a tension between digital literacy as a set of skills and competencies on the one hand and understandings that arise from socio‑cultural and communicative practices on the other. Current understandings of digital literacy in the context of teacher education and OERs are explored and the potential for digital literac(ies) for openness is examined. This draws on data collected in the context of the DeFT project and includes meanings and perspectives on digital literacies as expressed by project participants. The effectiveness of a methodology that prizes reflexivity and participation is examined including a range of voices, including children's voices, in the meaning‑making process and recommendations on the basis of the findings are made. In terms of a digital future for teacher education the paper highlights the need for practices, learning packages and tools to continue to evolve, in close cooperation with their potential users, and linked directly to classroom and schools as the site of this production.

Abstract

Abstract: The web 2.0 has already penetrated the learning environment of students ubiquitously. This dissemination of online services into tertiary education has led to constant changes in students’ learning and study behaviour. Students use services such as Google and Wikipedia most often not only during free time but also for learning. At the same time, traditional information media such as textbooks or printed hand‑outs still form basic pillars in their learning environment. To measure the media usage for learning and how it changes an international long term media survey in tertiary education was set up by the author and other cooperation partners. Until February 2013, 12,000 students from five countries were asked 143 questions about their media use for learning and close‑by topics. The results of the survey include an acceptance ranking of 53 media services, a comparison of media acceptance in five countries, data on possession of IT devices and a comparison of students and teachers media acceptance.

Abstract

Abstract: Often, knowledge and quality education is reserved for the elite, where there are systemic obstacles to gaining access to today’s leaders. Gender and racial inequities in executive‑level positions across North America have been a long‑standing debate amongst scholars and policy makers. Research has consistently documented that women are disproportionately represented in upper management and in positions of power and still continue to dominate traditionally “female” occupations, such as administrative support and service workers. Though gender inequalities are evidently present, there is also a clear under‑representation of visible minorities holding executive‑level positions as well. In order to reverse these trends, governments across North‑America have enforced employment equity legislation and many organizations have voluntarily committed to similar initiatives. Perceived educational and career‑related barriers to opportunity, choice, and information within these segregated groups are shaped early on. For this reason, many researchers champion early interventional programs in order to prevent such perceived barriers from developing. In this paper, there will be a discussion of social networks and how certain groups are denied access to sources of social capital, thus hindering their ability to seek out prospective jobs or entering certain career streams. In this study, Women in the Lead, a database published in 2009, is a national directory of women whose professional expertise and experience recommend them as candidates for positions of senior level responsibility and as members on corporate boards. The Women in the Lead database was comprised entirely of professional women who had voluntarily subscribed as members. Of the 630 women asked to participate, 210 responded to the survey. The 210 women who responded were from 14 different industries in Canada and the United States. The next generation was described as soon to be graduates of high school. A summary of this advice is reported in this paper, with the objective of providing guidance to the next generation looking to enter the workforce, regardless of their gender, location, and race. We also explore the potential of the internet in levelling these barriers and opening up new possibilities for e‑mentoring youth and building social capital.

Abstract

Abstract: The use Web 2.0 technologies and specifically blogs has become increasingly prevalent within the Higher Education (HE) sector within recent years as educators begin to maximise the opportunities such tools can provide for teaching and learning and to experiment with their usage in a wide range of context. The use of such technologies has been shown to promote learning (Garcia, Brown & Elbeltagi, 2012) however currently the manner in which these tools can be best used to promote teaching and learning is not entirely clear. It is within this context that Connectivism, a learning theory for the digital age (Siemens, 2004) has been developed as a theory which aims to provide a model through which teaching and learning using digital technologies can be better understood and managed. Connectivism is however as yet still a relatively new learning theory and not without criticism. Therefore this theory must be considered more fully before it can be accepted fully as a learning theory for the digital age. Within this research a case study of collective blog usage by students studying at an HE institution within the United Kingdom is utilised in order to explore the extent to which Connectivism can be considered to provide a sound theoretical model in which to base future teaching and learning activities of this sort. The views of academic staff and students are utilised in order to explore the extent to which the model of Connectivist learning can be applied to this case and demonstrate the complexities of considering teaching and learning in this way. The results of this study would suggest that Connectivism as a learning theory for the digital age is worthy of consideration and a number of elements of the theory can be seen within the activities undertaken however these are not seen universally across all groups involved within this project.

Abstract

Abstract: The major concerns of adaptive testing studies have concentrated on effectiveness and efficiency of the system built for the research experiments. It has been criticised that such general information has fallen short of providing qualitative descriptions regarding learning performance. Takahiro Sato of Japan proposed an analytical diagram called Student‑Problem Chart (S‑P Chart) in the 1970. The S‑P Chart is able to establish a learning diagnostic table which comments student learning performance in a verbal form. The advancement of computer technology has made the S‑P analytical process more applicable for school teachers. This study examined how online comments provided by the S‑P diagnostic table could affect the students’ learning attitude. One hundred sixth grade students were selected to be the subjects of the study. An online embedded test was given to the subjects and an S‑P diagnostic table was drawn by the computer to display instant comments on each student’s learning performance. A Questionnaire survey and in‑depth interviews were performed after the experiment. Results indicated that students liked the online qualitative comments. This is because students were able to instantly understand why they performed well/poor in the test, which is much beyond the numerical scores can explain. The results also showed that the online S‑P diagnostic table made students more circumspect on answering the test questions in order to reduce careless mistakes. Students would also be more likely to review what missed on the test. However, the S‑P comment table seemed to have no effect on improving their learning performance. An online iterative drilling platform was consequently built to incorporate with the S‑P diagnostic process to assist poorly performed students. It may effectively work with the S‑P diagnostic process to provide constructive remediation for the students who exhibited a poor performance on the S‑P chart.